Thanks for the great guide Sisiutil, it's helping me a lot!
I'm still kind of clueless about the game though, I played some civ 1 but I felt the game moved way too fast for me and I just couldn't keep expanding and staying alive at the same time.
I can figure out the first couple of turns, get a very small civ going, but I have no idea how to turn that into a nation capable of paced advancement and eventually war.
You mention in your guide having specialized cities, when is it worth actually having these? Early on or not until you have several other flourishing cities?
As a beginner, what kind of goals do I need to set for myself? I'm really missing a campaign mode in this game with short missions. That teach me how to effectively handle myself in a diverse amount of situations and prepare me for free play.
I can't tell if I'm doing good or bad in this game until the end, which takes a very long time to get to, and when I get there I don't know what I could have done better.
What kind of empire should I try to aim for within the first 100 turns of the game? I need to at least do decently at that before I can continue the game, but I have no idea what's considered "decent".